Excellent Danielle gets in contact with Max His Silence : His Silence - Chapter 23 by Jacob1395

Background When Harvey murders his parents, he refuses to say why he did it. Twenty years later, he's finally ready to talk. My eyes flicker open. I sit up straight in bed and glance at my alarm clock, glowing half past six in green. I groan, it’s half an hour before my alarm goes off, there’s no point in going back to sleep now. I hold my hand over my mouth and yawn. I’d spent the rest of last night slopped on the sofa after Emma’s dinner. She always does far too much food. Even now I still feel bloated. Stretching out under my duvet, I pick my phone off my bedside table. Oh my God. My fingers tingle. There’s a notification in my Gmail account. Max. I unlock my phone and open my emails, heart thumping in my chest. Max sent me a reply half an hour ago. I scan the words on the screen, lapping up every single word. He wants to talk. He actually wants to talk. From: Max Hardy To: Danielle Olsen Date: 7 June 2024 at 06:00 Subject: Podcast Hey Danielle, I was surprised, to say the least, to receive your message, I think about what happened to your family every day. I think if we’re to talk about this it would be best to do so face to face. Are you able to talk on Zoom at all? I can arrange a meeting for later on this afternoon if that works well with you, or any other time this week? Let me know. Max Zoom. Why didn’t I think of that? Emma and Michael get in from work at just after five. If we do a zoom call at four, an hour should give us plenty of time. I type out a reply. From: Danielle Olsen To: Max Hardy Date: 7 June 2024 at 06:35 Subject: Podcast Can we do a Zoom call for four pm? I press send. The reply comes back in seconds. He’ll be sitting by his computer, or phone, waiting for my response. He’s going to be buzzing at the thought of speaking to me. This’ll be like Christmas coming early for him.             From: Max Hardy             To: Danielle Olsen             Date: 7 June 2024 at 06:36             Subject: Podcast             Sure, I’ll send you a link. Looking forward to speaking to you. Max is hedging his bets it’s actually going to me he’ll be speaking to. I could be anyone, for all he knows. He’s not asked me to show him any identification, to prove I’m who I say I am. Perhaps he’s thinking he can’t pass up this opportunity, even if it does sound too good to be true. I place my phone in my pyjama pocket, jump out of bed, hurry out of my room and down the stairs. Emma and Michael are both in the kitchen. ‘Blimey, you’re not usually out of bed this early on a Monday,’ Michael says, taking a sip of his tea. He grins at me. ‘Oh well, I was awake so I thought might as well get up,’ I say, grabbing two slices of bread from the bread bin and dropping them in the toaster. I’m going to need something to eat to calm my nerves. My phone bleeps in my pocket. It’s Max sending me a zoom invitation. This is actually happening. We’re going to be speaking this afternoon. I shove it back to make sure Emma and Michael don’t catch a glimpse of it. My heart’s bouncing against my ribs. I get a whiff of bread as it begins to cook in the toaster and breathe it in. I need to keep calm. ‘So you didn’t tell us much about what you and Callum got up to at the weekend,’ Michael says, taking another sip of his tea. Can’t they leave it alone? It’s like they’re both thinking something happened at the weekend. ‘Oh well, we just strolled around the area, had a few drinks at one of the pubs on the sea front. It was nice. We’re thinking, actually, about going away for a couple of months.’ ‘Where to?’ Emma asks, placing the jar of marmalade back in the fridge. I know we haven’t agreed what we’re going to do yet, but at least I can start planting the seed so it doesn’t come totally out of the blue. ‘We’re still in the planning stages, we might do Europe, Asia, we’re not sure yet, but we want to do it soon.’ Emma’s frowning at Michael. ‘This is all very sudden, Danielle,’ she says, stepping closer to me. ‘Emma, I’ve got the money saved up and to be honest I hate my job, so I’m thinking about throwing the towel in anyway, you know I’ve been looking for something else. I’m not going to be young forever; I won’t go mad and spend all my money.’ I let out a slight laugh. Emma holds out her hands, a strained expression on her face. ‘Honestly, sweetie, I’m not saying it’s something you shouldn’t do. I’m sure you’ll have a great time.’ My toast pops up. Michael finishes his tea as I spread a thick lump of butter on the bread and plonks his cup in the sink. I wait for Emma to say I’m using far too much butter, but she doesn’t say anything. Perhaps she’s thinking she doesn’t want to upset the boat anymore, she can be like that. ‘Right, I’ll see you guys later,’ Michael says as I take a bite of my toast. He pecks us on the cheek as he leaves. I finish my toast. ‘Just going to get ready and get set up for work,’ I tell Emma. ‘Well, I’ll probably be gone by the time you get back down,’ Emma says, not quite looking me in the eye. ‘So I’ll see you later tonight.’ ‘At just after five?’ I ask. ‘Of course, why?’ Now she’s giving me a curious look. Damn, I shouldn’t have said anything. ‘No reason, just checking.’ I smile at her. I place my plate in the sink next to Michael’s cup and hurry out of the room, keen to get out of Emma’s way. Author Notes Characters: Danielle (protagonist) Callum (Danielle's best friend) Harvey (Danielle's brother) William (Danielle's adoptive father) Emma (Danielle's adoptive mother) John Cole (Danielle's biological father) Laura Cole (Danielle's biological mother) Ian Jones (third person who Harvey killed) Max Hardy (podcaster) Jeremiah (works with Oliver) Oliver Adams (Marsh View House owner) Mary (works with Oliver) Abraham (Marsh View resident) Abigail (Marsh View resident) Isaac (Marsh View resident) Noah (Marsh View resident) Eve (Marsh View resident)

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